


Strength Of Character

by WildHoneyProse



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anakin is the hero he should have been, Angst, Anidala, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Pining, Rare Pairings, Thorn is secretly in love with Padme, Thornidala, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:28:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29975316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildHoneyProse/pseuds/WildHoneyProse
Summary: Set in Season 5 of TCW before the Temple bombing. Padme paces anxiously in her apartment, waiting for news of Anakin, who has discovered that Palpatine is a sith lord and has gone to confront him. Commander Thorn is the first on the scene in response to the chancellor's emergency distress alarm and is shocked to find Palpatine wielding a red lightsaber, fighting against the Jedi.
Relationships: Padme Amidala/Commander Thorn, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 17
Kudos: 11





	Strength Of Character

Padme looked up at her husband and swallowed down the fear that threatened to choke her. "Don't you dare walk out that door, Ani," she said as she fought back the tears about to spill down her face.

"Padme, you know I have to go. I have to do my duty to the republic, to the Jedi. But mostly, I have to do this to protect you." Anakin reached his hand out and placed it tenderly on her belly, the signs of pregnancy not yet showing. "To protect our child."

"I have a bad feeling about this, Ani. If the chancellor really is who you suspect him to be, are you sure you're the one who should be facing him?" she said as she took his hands in her own, squeezing like she would never let go.

"I won't be alone. Master Windu and Master Ti will be with me," he said. 

"And you're sure he's the… the sith lord? Chancellor Palpatine... I just can't believe it."

"I'm sure, Padme. I've been watching him closely for a while now, and I'm afraid our worst fears have been all but confirmed. As much as it pains me to suspect the man I've looked up to for most of my life, I'm confident that Palpatine is the sith lord, and he must be stopped," Anakin said, as a dangerous light danced in his eyes. 

Though their marriage was far from perfect, Padme loved Anakin. Not the blind love she had when she had first married him. No, they had been through far too much for that. She knew his shortcomings, his jealousy, his possessiveness. But she chose to love and stand by him through it all because she believed that deep down, he was driven by a passion for justice and a great capacity to feel and to love. And she would continue to stand by him, believing that they would grow together, hoping that as they did, things would get easier, better. 

Anakin cupped her face in his hands and wiped the tears away with his thumbs before leaning down to kiss her goodbye. Reaching her arms around his neck, Padme breathed in her husband and tried to ignore the dread rising in her mind, threatening to swallow her whole. 

"I love you, Ani," she said.

"I love you too, Padme."

With that, he turned and walked out the door, leaving her standing alone in her posh apartment with nothing but her anxious thoughts to keep her company. 

"May the Force be with you," she whispered to the empty space Anakin had just occupied. 

___

Commander Thorn ran through the halls of the senate building toward the chancellor's office, the sound of his pounding heart ringing in his ears, nearly drowning out his own voice as he shouted commands to his squad. It was the first time the chancellor's emergency distress alarm had ever been triggered. Fox, who was on the other side of the senate building, was on his way with a squad as well, but Thorn and his men were closer and arrived at the chancellor's office first.

Despite all his training, Thorn could hardly process the scene before him when he arrived. There was a loud buzzing sound accompanied by blue, purple, and red lights swirling and clashing in a mesmerizing dance. It would have been beautiful if it weren't for the suffocating dread filling the room. 

The four beings wielding the lightsabers were moving as quickly as lightning. The fighting was fierce, and the troopers stood in shock, unsure of who to aim at.

A sickly voice hissed, "fine! If you won't join me, you will die!"

Thorn watched in horror as General Windu and General Ti were thrown across the room, and white lightning shot out from Palpatine's fingers and engulfed Skywalker. He felt shivers run down his spine at the sound of Skywalker's screams of pain. 

After a few seconds of attempting to make sense of what he was seeing, Thorn heard himself giving Fox a nearly incoherent report through their HUD comms. "The chancellor is attacking the Jedi... He has a red lightsaber... and lightning... I don't know what the hell is going on here..." His own voice sounded dazed and far away as he struggled to get the words out. 

Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. General Windu and General Ti had made their way back into the fight, but not before Skywalker collapsed as the chancellor's red saber blade pierced through him.

Thorn felt like he was frozen in place as Skywalker looked over at him from where he lay, writhing in pain. He could hear the Jedi's voice in his head. " _Tell her. Tell her I'm sorry, and I love her._ " 

Before he could process what Skywalker meant, everything seemed to come to a sharp halt, and his eyes were dragged against his will to the chancellor. Everything else faded into a distant nothingness. Thorn was trapped, and the chancellor's voice was the only thing that existed. It filled his head as though it was coming from his own mind. Clear and booming like thunder, it drowned out every other sound, every other thought. "Execute order sixty-sssiii….." 

The voice slowed and finally came to an abrupt halt as General Windu's saber stabbed through the chancellor's body. It was as if someone had woken Thorn from a trance or a dream in which he had been drowning. The darkness that had engulfed him lifted, and he gasped for air as though he had been pulled out from under water. His head throbbed as everything came into sharp focus around him. 

Five bodies lay on the ground. Three were Senate Guards, one was Chancellor Palpatine, and the other, General Skywalker. General Windu was standing over the chancellor panting and returning his lightsaber to his belt. General Ti was kneeling beside Skywalker, checking for a pulse. Thorn's thoughts snapped to Senator Amidala as General Ti bowed her head in confirmation that he was dead. Thorn didn't know the extent of the senator and Skywalker's relationship, but he did know that they were seeing one another and doing a terrible job of keeping it a secret. 

His heart squeezed when he thought of the pain this would bring her. Not that Thorn ever thought Skywalker was good enough for her, but he could tell that she cared for the Jedi and couldn't stand the thought of her heart being broken. His stomach twisted when it dawned on him that there would be no one assigned to break the news to her. Whatever her relationship with Skywalker had been, it was meant to be a secret from the Jedi. And as her friend and witness to Skywalker's death, he had to be the one to tell her. Then he remembered Skywalker's words ringing in his head. " _Tell her. Tell her I'm sorry, and I love her",_ and he thought he might be sick.

His gut-wrenching thoughts were interrupted by Fox and his squad rushing into the room behind him. Thorn forced his shaking hands to steady and his mind to comply with protocol as he joined Fox and the two Jedi to debrief the situation.

___

Padme paced back and forth in her apartment. Over and over and over again. Dark images and fear filled her mind, worst-case scenarios playing on loop. It had been hours, and no word had come. Anakin had not come home or commed her. She kept telling herself that it would all be ok, that things this important took time. But deep down in the darkest fear-filled corner of her mind, she knew that something was wrong. The dread in the pit of her stomach, the pain piercing her heart. No, something was not right. It was not going to be ok. 

Panic filled her mind, and she froze as it dawned on her that even if something had happened to Anakin, there would be no one to tell her. Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Rex were all on a mission off-world. Anakin had been called back by the council a month before on a special assignment to watch the chancellor. He had been reluctant at first to be spying on someone he so admired, but she had noticed that the longer he did it, the more he hinted at distrusting the man.

The urge to crumble and fall apart was fighting with her desire to march right into the senate building and find out what was going on for herself. She started pacing again, telling herself that she needed to stay where she was, to stay strong, if not for her own sake, for the sake of their child. 

Another hour passed, and Padme could hardly contain her need to go out and search for answers. She was just grabbing a coat when she heard the door buzz. She could have sworn her heart stopped beating. Anakin wouldn't have buzzed. He would have walked right in. Her worst fears were all but confirmed. Tears stung her eyes, and her legs threatened to give out from under her as she struggled to focus her thoughts on the task at hand. _Answer the door. Just answer the door._

Padme set her shoulders and willed her legs to steady and carry her through the apartment to the door. She didn't know who she was expecting to see, but it certainly wasn't Commander Thorn. 

Thorn had become a good friend over the years as he had often been her assigned guard escort on diplomatic missions. The sight of him threw her so much that her resolve and the dam holding back her tears broke.

___

Thorn's feet and heart felt heavier and heavier the closer he got to Senator Amidala's apartment. He tried to sort through his thoughts, through the revelations of the last few hours, and through the words he had planned to say. Words that he knew would break the heart of the woman he had secretly been in love with for 2 years.

He paused to remove his helmet and take a few deep breaths just outside her door. When he felt like he had a handle on what he would say, he hit the buzzer. The door wooshed open a minute later. He took one look at the anguish in Padme's face, and all coherent thought left his brain. 

She started to collapse and would have landed in a heap on the floor if it wasn't for Thorn's enhanced reflexes. The moment she began to fall, he rushed in and swooped her up, closed the door behind him, and carried her to the sofa, where he gently set her down and sat next to her. 

Padme met his eyes, and he could tell she already knew why he was there. 

"I'm so sorry, Senator. General Skywalker... He didn't make it," he said, barely managing to get the words out. 

He had planned to say more, to say it better, but Padme's sob caused the words to die on his lips. The rest, including Skywalker's request, would have to wait. He stiffened slightly when she sunk into him, clinging to his armor as she collapsed under her grief. Relaxing slightly, he carefully wrapped his arms around her in the most comforting way he could manage from within his cage of plastoid armor. 

Thorn had no idea how long they stayed that way, Padme crying against his chest and him attempting to comfort her. At some point, he had started stroking her hair gently, and her sobs had given way to small sniffles and eventually to deep, even breathing. He peered down at her to find that she had fallen asleep. 

Thorn's heart squeezed in his chest as he looked at her. He had dreamed of what it would be like to hold her, but this was not how he'd imagined it happening. He couldn't even savor her nearness, knowing that she was hurting, that her heart was breaking because she loved someone else. There was no comfort in the fact that that person was gone. She was just as unattainable as ever, and he would remain the faithful friend and protector. Always the one to lend a listening ear, a word of encouragement, or a snarky comment that never failed to make her laugh. He would remain Thorn. The Coruscant Guard commander. The clone. 

**Author's Note:**

> A discord server I'm in decided that Thorn was secretly and unrequitedly in love with Padme and thus the idea for "Thornidala" was born (at least as I know it)!
> 
> Thank you @collisiontheory for being an amazing beta! 
> 
> It was really important to me in this to take a look at Padme and Anakin's relationship through a raw and realistic lens. Whether you love them or not, it is clear that their relationship is not completely healthy. I wanted to be sure that Anakin got a chance at redemption. Though it cost him his life, his selfless bravery saved the galaxy and his family. I also wanted to be sure I did justice to Padme's incredible integrity, loyalty, and strength of character. And lastly, I wanted to paint a clear picture of the kind of man I believe Thorn to be - selfless, loyal and kind. (Unrequited love is so heart-breaking, but it's also a great place to start! ;)
> 
> I would love to hear what you think! :)


End file.
